Multiple-record phonograph.



Witnesses W. E. CHILDERS. MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH. APPLICATION HLED mm; 9,1914.

Patented J une 1, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WaZZWZ 6%2755/6 W. E. CHiLDERS. MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH. 7 APPLICATION FILED luNi 9,1914 r 1,141,232, Patented June 1, 191;).

s suns-sum 2.

wzzzwmzw/a Attorneys Inventor I I I.

w. E. CHILDERSI MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED "159, 19x14.

Patented June 1, 1915.

i 5 s EETS-SHEET 4 inventor Witr msse? Wait?! W. E. CHILDERS.

MULTIPLE RECORD PHQNOGRAPH. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1914.

Patented June 1, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- lnvento r I Attorneys.

To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE..-

WALTER EDGAR CHILDERS, F MERTZON, TEXAS.

alumina-Remain, rHoivoeRArH.

ing at Mcrtzon,

State (if Texas, have invented a newand useful i/Multiple Record" Phonogr'aph, of

which the following is a specification;

fiiThisinvention relates to-"multiple record phonographs,

one of its objects being to provide" Improved means whereby record cylinders,'fwhich-are arranged-in a cluster erative'i relation 1 with. driving mechanism whereby said recordsare caused" successively to rotate, the means employed for aetuating the'r'eco'rds being simple and eliicient.

A further object is to provide a machine.

' which the'reproducer is connected, said carare brought successively into opof this character utilizing a carriage to riage having means-for feeding it longitudinally'o'f the rotating recordand, when f the reproducer' reaches the end of the record, means are provided disengaged from its whereby the carriage is whereby the carriage can reaching its 's artingpoint, or, canbe caused to again travel as before, the mechanism for rotating the cluster or group be locked upon of records being so timed as to bring anew [recordto active position each time the cari riageisreturned .to its normalor initial return of the carriage to its initial or start-- position. I.

r Another object is to provide means wheres by the stylus of the reproducer is cleaned of all accumulations of dust, etc, during the ing position.

A further object isto provide a novel 'form of reproducer whereby the use of a cleaning means is madev possible.

proceeds, the invention resides'jin the com,-

bination and arrangement of parts and in' the details of constructionhereinafter detiona scribed and claimed, it being understood,- that changeseln the precise embodiment ofthe invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope ofwhat .isclailned, without departing fromthe spirit of =th e inven-.

In the Specification of Letters Patent.

it known that I, WALTER EDGAR Grin.- a citizen of the United States, res1din the county of Irion and from which'motion is feeding means .and is automatically returned to its starting point. A further object is to' provide means if desired,

m'ounted for rotation.

secured to the shaft 18 and meshes with a \Vith the foregoing and-,other objects in. I view which will appear as the description the said shoe i disk and :go vernor. mechani sm.

accompanying drawingsthe preferred form; of .the invention has been 1 shown.

Patented June 1, 1915.

I Application filed June 9, 1914. Serial N0.844,G52.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a*top plan view of the machine, parts being broken away. Flg. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3

'is' a rear elevation. Fig. t is an elevation 0f. one side of the machine. I =vat1on showing the other side of the ma- Fig. 5 is an elechine. Fig. 6 is a section of a portion of the structure, the carriage being shown in end elevation and elevated at the beginning of its return movement. Fig. 7 is-a section througlra portion of the reproducer. .Fig. 81s a section on line C -D Fig.

Referring to the figures by characters ofreference, l designates-a springmotor of any suitable form Which can. bewou'nd in ythe usual'or any-preferred manner, this motor having the usual. key. engaging -'spindle 2 transmitted, through gear 4 secured to the shaft 5 Spindle 2 has a, ratchet 6 and a gear 3, to a of the motor.

a pawl 7 for holdingit. against rotation in one d rection.

The motor drives agear 8, it being connected thereto by a ratchet wheel 9 which is secured to the motor shaft and a pawl 10 which is secured to the gear 8., Gear 8 meshes with a gear 11 arrangedlon a sleeve with a large gear 12, the sleeve on which the two gears 11 and 12 are secured, being indicated at 13. The gear 12 meshes with a small gear 14 secured to a sleeve 15 which is mounted for rotation on th e'motor. shaft and has alarge gear 16 secured thereto. This large gear meshes witha smaller gear 17 seft 18 on which the sleeve 13 is Another gear 19 is cured to a sh arm 25 is extended upwardly to a point close to and under the top Z'Y'Of'tllG casing in hich the mechanismis housed, the upper end ofthe arm being enlarged to foiflin a head 28.. The arm ispivotally connected, at an intermediate point, to a lever 29 fful- The said crumed, as at 30, upon the supporting frame 31 of the mechanism and a spring 32 conmeets the lever to the top 27 so as thus. to hold arm normally raised and wit the shoe 26 in contact with the disk 22. The free end of the lever 29 works along one edge of an upstanding latch 33 wh ch, as shown in the drawings, has a note. 34 forming a shoulder 35 on which the lever 29 ,is adapted to rest while the spring 32 is under stress and the head 28 is in its lowermost position, thus holding the brake shoe 26 out of contact with the disk 22. Latch 33 is also pro- 3 vided with another notch 36 near its upper end and which is for the purpose hereinafl ter set forth.

Shaft 18 is provided With a-pulley 37 whereby motion maybe transmitted thereto through a suitable belt, not shown, from an electric motor, not shown, and, when an elec tric motor is used for driving the mechanism, it will be seen that the pawl 10 will slip over the ratchet 9 so that thespring motorl will not resist the operation of the electric motor. Furthermore when an electric motor is used, a spring contact 38 is arranged under lever 29 and is arranged in the circuit extending to the motor. The lever 29 is also arranged in said circuit. \Vhen the said lever 29 is pressed downwardly to the positionshown in the drawings, so asrto come against spring 38, a circuit will be established to the motor but, as soon as the .tion of sound fromone of the records. rail 63 does not extend throughout the 'le 1'3 lever 29 is released and caused to move up wardly under the action of spring 32, contact with the spring 38 will be broken and the circuit to the motor will be likewise broken. It is of course to be understood that where an electric motor is used, that portion of the lever 29 above the spring 38 will be insulated from the remaining portion of the machine. This can lee done in any well known manner.

.lournaied in suitable bearings provided thcret'or is a. transverse shaft 35) to which is secured a head40 having spindles 41 fixediy connected thereto and extendlng'from one side thereof, those spindles being'parallel with the shaft Each spindle has a n'landrel 42 mounted for rotation thereon and each mandrel 1s provided at that end nearest the head 40 with an integral pulley +3. Each mandrel is adapted to hold one vrecordcylinder 1t and. it is to be understood that thenmnber of records carried by the head -i-() is dependent upon the number of maudrols used and this number is only lint;

ited by the size of the head 40. Each of the spindles 41 has a short extension 44* projecting from the head and these projections are disposed under and areadapted surrraaix'ely to engage a lockinglever 45 ma-all mounted as at 46 and having a notch 47 adapted to receive any oneof the '7 projections 44. An arm 48 extends upapper end, to one end 0 a sleeve WM,

is slid-ably mounted on an actuating rod This sleeve is slidably mounted within i guide loop 57 secured/to the "rod 56 Mi. coiled spring 58 is' mounted on the and bears at one end against the loop 57 at its other end against an enlargement; at one end of the sleeve. A collar 60 is vided for preventing the sleeve 55 EU pulling out of the loop 57 and for hol 1 the spring 58 under com res'sion. It I be seen thatspri'ng 58 t us constitutes a. cushion to pennit relative movement of rod 56 and the sleeve 55.- I ll Supported by the frame 31 is a guidefmil v 61 on which a carriage 62 is-mounted'to a and to rock. Thisguide rod 61 is .pa with a rail 63 and the carria e has an porting screw '64. designed to side along I railv 63 so that said rail and the rod 61 fl? coiiperate to hold the carriage in its no I i or active position as, during the reprodtld ij of the path of movement of the carriage, terminates short thereof. A finger 65 tends downwardly from the carriage audio adapted to travel under the rail, thus to pro-' vent the screw 64 from lifting off of the toil. When, however, the carriage reaches either limit, of its movement, the finger will bebrought to position beyond one end or the other of the rail 63, thus to permit swingi movement ,otthe carriage relative to the r25 and about the rod 61.. p 1 The carriage hasanear 66 upstandin". therefronr and ,the rod-56 extends 100M1 through this ear. Collars 67 are secured on the rod 56 and are disposed zit-opposite :1"

ofthe ear, these collars; serving to prevent I;

jacent said end, this lip and the arm be located at opposite-sides of the carriage. coupling pm extends lmymvardly 1 arm 69 and when the carriage is in its and or active position, with screw 64 ing downwardly on, rail 63, this pin 70 ('lIE})(=.'-i0(l above and out of engagement with '3 which, .as shown in the drawings, is mounttends from the carriage 02 and carries a feed block 82 which, when the carriage 1s in its normal or active'position, bears upwardly against and engages the feed screw 77. The parts are so proportioned, however, that when the wardly out of normal position and about the-rod 61, the block 82 will move clown- I wardly out of enga ement with the screw i the path of -said; hanger v bring the wing 90. against the end oi the lifting linger 87.

77. At the same time,.the pin will move downwardly into engagement with the chain? 1. v

The feed screw 77 is provided, at one end, with a crank arm and a pitman 8. connects this crank arm to an arm extending downwardly from a short rock shaft 86 journaled adjacent the rail 63. This rock shai t carries a liftin finger 87 and the arm 85 and crank arm 83 are soaproportioned that, during the rotation of the crank arm 83, the arm and the lifting finger 87 will he oscillated. '1

i-rshaft 88 is i'nountedfor rotation on the carriage 02 at that end thereof adjacent the lip 08 and depending from this shaft is a hanger 8) provided, at an intermediate point, with tionary cam 91 is located in the path of the lower end portion of the hanger 89 so that,

as the carriage approaches one limit of its movement, during the reproduction of sound, the lower end of thh hanger 89 will comeagainst the cam 91 and be deflected laterally, thus to shift the wing -out oi the oscillating lifting linger 87. (lam 90 is so proportioned,however, that just as the carriage 2 reaches one limit of its movement, .the letter end of the hanger 89 \'i'l ll; lll()\'(fi oil of the end of cam 91. and will gravitate back so as to Thus, when the lifting finger 87 nimes downwardly until its end arrives below the wing 90, said. wing \\']ll swing to position directly over the linger 87 so that, when the said finger moves upwardly, the hanger 89 Will push upwardly against the carriage iii and causethe carriagetoswing upu-ardlyabout the rod Cl.

A su porting latch 92 is pivotally mounted adjacent the finger 87 and has superposed notches 93 and 94, this latch being held by aispring 95 so as to press yieldingly toward carriage is tilted upan outstanding wing 90. A sta-' the carriage 62. A' lifting bar 96 is mounted on the carriage andhas one end portion elevated, as shown at 97, this elevated portron being adapted to come into position under the finger 48' on the lifting arm 48 when the carriage approaches the limit of is pivotally mounted '0 against the latch 33 when the carriage is returned to its initial position, thus toactuate said latch and release lever 29 from the shoulder 35. receive the upper end of the arm 98 but is of suflieient length to allow said arm to move downwardly within the noteh'36, when the carriage drops down to its active posi- Noteh 36 is so located as to tion inthe manner hereinafter set forth. It I is to be understood that by swinging the arm 98 out of its noflmal position, it, can be prevented from engaging the latch 33 and releasing lever 29.

A reprodueer 99 is connected to the earriage (J2 and has a small lever 100 connected to its frame so as to extend under the diaphragm. This lever is provided with a slot 101 and a pin 102 is mounted for rotation in the lever and extends. across the slot. This pin has a crank arm 103 extending radially therefrom and pivotally engagedbyone end of a plate 104 which is mounted within the slot 101. A spring 105 is secured to the plate and servesto pull continuously thereon so as thus to keep-the crank arm.103 in alinement with the lonmal conditions.-

eorresponding openings in the lever 100.

Throi'igh these openings extends a wire 107 or other flexible element which is connected to onearm vof a secondary lever 108. This secondary lever is fulcrumed in the lower end portion of the pin 102 and the other arm of the seeondary'lever carries a stylus or reproducing needle 109. A brush extends under and'parallel with the rail 03, as shown at 110, and during thereproduction of sonnd from a record, the lever 108 and its needle 109 travels below the brush, \Vhen, houever, theearriage is being .re-. turned to its initial position while elevated,

. brush'luit, as soon as the. needle passes-oil of the brush, the spring 105 will returnfithe same to its initial position relative to the lever 100.

gitudinal-center of the plate 104un der nor-i l A large opening 106 is formed in the plate 104: and registers with the needle mandrels The operation of the motor, either spring or electric has alreadybeen described. It

gages an idler 113 and passes under andover the pulleys carried by the several The belt 112 is so propor 'tioned as to frictionally engage the uppermost pulley l3 so as to cause said pulley to rotate. Thus it will be seen that during the i latch 92.

continuous actuation of: the parts hereinbe fore referred to, the uppermost pulley 43, its mandrel 4-9, and the record on said mandrel will also be continuously actuated. When the carriage is at the beginning of its active movement, the screw 6:: rests upon the rail 63 and the finger 653 extends under the rail so as to prevent the carriage from swinging upwardly. Pin 70 is at the same time supported above and out of engagement with the chain 71. Feed block 82 also engages the screw 77. As the feed screw rotates the carriage is'caused to travel slowly along the rod 61 and the rail 63, the needle 109 traveling below the brush 110 and within the grow-1e of the rotating record. As the carriage approaches the limit of its movement the hanger 89 comes against the deflecting cam 91 and is thusslnlited laterally as hereinbetore described. At the same time the elevated or enlarged port' :1 97 of the bar 96 is lilrought to position un-- der the finger 4-8 and the lip lu-oz-ight Ur} is into position within the lower notch 93 in Just as the l'iai'iger 85) passes ell of the end ofcam 91 as hercinbc'lore doscribed and wing 90 moves to position above the lifting finger 87, said linger, which is constantly oscillating, will push upmirdly on the hanger S9 and cause the carriage 62 p to swing upwardly about the rod (ll. This will cause lip (38 to move. from the lower notch 93 to the upper notch 9-1- and at the same time the pin will move downi-vardly into engagement with the upper flight of the continiu'iusly moving chain 71.. v The cle' ated 01' enlarged portion 97 of bar 86 presses upwardly against linger 48' and. thus causes arm 4.8 and lever -15 to move upwardly, thereby withdrawing the notch 47 from the projection 4-4 which was seated therein.

The upward swinging movement of the carriage 62 will be suliicient to lift the stylus or needle of the reproducer oil of the record and to position it above the brush 110. vWhen the pin 70 movesinto engagement with the returning chain 71, the carriage is .rail Thus the carriage will slide back to its initial position, the elevated portion,

97 of bar 96 holding the lever 45 elevated .during a portion of-its return movement or until the elevated portion 97 passes from under the finger t8'.. During the movement 01" the carriage back to its initial position,

the ear 66 presses against rod 56 and through spring 58 to the sleeve 55. This will cause lever St to swing about its pivot and the pawl to actuate theratchet wheel 52, gear 50, gear -19, and head 40. Consequently another projection lat will-be moved to position in engagement with the lever 45 and just before this projection gets under the notch 4-7, the elevated portion 97 of bar 96 will pass fronruuder finger 48 so that lever 25 will drop down and allow the projection 4:4: to enter the notch 47. Consequently further rotation of the head 40 will 3 be prevented and a new record will be brought to active position. The pulley 43 of this new record will. be raised up into engagement with the belt 112 so that as soon as said new record is brought to such elevated position, it will begin to rotate. As soon as the carriage reaches its initial position, the finger (35 will pass oil of the end of rail 63, the carriage will swing down to its normal position with the screw bearing on the rail (33, and the feed block 82 will move up againstand engage the screw 77.

If the arm 98 has been shifted so as not to cngagethe latch 33, the carriage will begin to travel along the rail. as hereinbefore described, the foregoing operation being repeated. It, however, arm 98 is so positioned as to engage and actuate the latch 33 when the carriage is returned to its initial position, said latch 33 will be pressed back and lever 29 will become released from shoulder 35. Thus spring will pull upwardly on the lever and cause the brake shoe 26 to engage the disk 22, thus bringing the motor to a stop. If, however, an electric motor is used, this operation of lever 29 will result in breaking the contact with the spring 38. This will stop the operation of the motor as before described. In ordert0 insure the prompt engagement of a projection l-l by the lever 4-5, a. spring 11% is ar anged so as to force the lever dowi'iwardl y as soon as its scribcd, it will be seen that reproductions can be made continumisly from a "series of records or, if desired, the mechanism can be brought to a stop after a reproduction has been made from one record. Various means can be employed for controlling the operation of the mechanism byniean's of a that only one record will be heard after a check or coin has check controlled means preferably includes a slide 115 mounted upon the housing 27 and within ahood'H'G, this slide having a fiifg'er; piece; 117 whereby it can be shifted readily so as to direct a cheekdownwardly' against the head 28. Inasmuch as this coin controlled mechanism constitutes no part of thepresent invention, it has not been ill-us-' trated or described in detail. What is claimed is ,1. The combination with a mounted for backward and forward 'movement, ofmeans for positively feeding the carriage in one di'rection, a continuously opcrating flexible element constituting return 1 ing means, means for automatically disengaging the carriage from its feeding means upon reaching one and means upon 2. The combination with a carriage and means for feed ng the same positively in one direction, of a continuously moving flexible] element constituting returning means,"means' for automatically rocking the carriage upon reaching one limit of'its movement todisengage it from its feeding means,

flexible returning means parallel therewith,I

and a coupling element upon the carriage and movable into engagement with the returning means'when the carriage is rocked.

3. The combination with a carriage and means for feeding the same positively in one direction, of a continuously moving flexible element constituting returning means, carriage upon reaching one limit of its movement to disengage it from its feeding means a coupling element upon the carriage and movable into engagement with the returning means when the carriage. is rocked, and means cooperating with the carriage for maintaining said coupling means in engagement with the returning means until the carriage has returned to its initial position.

4. The combination with a guide rod, of

a carriage mounted to slide and to rock thereon, means for positively feeding the carriage in one direction, a continuously moving flexible element constituting return-' ing means, a continuously oscillating lifting element, means upon the carriage and movable into engagement with the lifting ele-.

' ment' when the carriage reaches one limit of its movement, and means upon the carriage and shifted thereby when the carriage is lifted, into engagement with the returning means. Y i a lever 29' each time the ear riage is returned to its initial position so been deposited. 'The' carriage 7 limit of its movement,v the a carriage for, engaging' the returning means upon release of the" carriage from its feeding means, l

means for automatically rocking the a carriage} mounted to slide and to rock thereon, means for positively feeding the carriage in one direction, moving flexible elementconstituting returning means, a continuously oscillating lifting element, means upon the'carriage andmov-' able into" engagement with the lifting elje; ment whenthe carriage reaches one its movement,-means upon the carriage and shifted thereby when the carriage i into engagement with the returning means,

The combination with a guide rod, of"

a continuously lim t of a is lifted:

and IILQHIISTOI holding said carriage in lifted;

position unti lieturried to'its initial point. 1"

6. The combination with a guide rod, of

' a" carriage mounted to slide and to rock thereon, means? for positively feeding .the v carriagefin one direction, a continuously movii'ig' iiexible element constituting jreturn ingmeans, a cont nuously oscillatinglifting' element, means upon the carriage and movm'ent when the carriage reaches one limit of its movement, means upon and means for holding said carriage in'lifted said means ineludinga rail and means on the carriage and movable over the rail, said means being movable under the rail during.

: engaged by the lifting means.

'7: Thecombinationfivith a guiderod and able *iiitoengagement with the lifting elei the carriage and 1' Y shifted thereby when the carriage is lifted, nto ei 'gagement'w th tlie'retu'rning means,

position until returned to itsflinitial point,

slide and rock upon tively feeding the carriage a continuously oscillating the rod, means forposi lifting element, 1

me'ans on the carriage and movable into thef path of ooperating wvith said lifting element to rock the carriage upwardly, and coupling means upon the carriage and movable into engagement with the returning means d-ui' ing the upward rocking of the carriage.

- 8.- The combination with a guide rod, a

rail, and a flexible returmng'means parallel withthe rod, of a carriage mounted to slide and rock upon the rod, means for ositively feeding the carriage in one direction, a con, tinuously oscillating lifting element, a finger extending from theearriage and movable under the rail to hold the carriage against upward movement, means upon the carriage and movable into the path of the lifting finger passes from under element when said the rail, said'means and lifting element cooperating 1 to means cooperating with the carriage for mothe lifting element whenth c page reaches one limit of its-movement d i rock the carriage upwardly,

inentarily'sustaining the carriage in elevateda position during the initialportion of its ref move onto therail. duringv the remaining portion of the .-return movement, and coupling means upon the" carriage and shiftable 1 1 itsinitial position. v

lntoengagementgwith the returning means during the upward movement of the carriage, said returning meansand coupling means cooperating to return the carriage to 9. The combination with a guide rod, and

-' a continuously moving flexible returning means,'of a carriage 'mounted to slide and rock upon-the rod, ahanger depending from the carriage, a continuously oscillating liftingfinger, meansfor successively deflecting the hanger-laterally and releasing it to engngejthel-iftingfinger when the carriage reachesone limit of its movement, means for vpositively feedingthe carriage to said limit of'i ts movement, 'and means" upon the carriage and shiftable thereby when lifted, .to

couple the carriage to the returning means.

v10. The combination with a guide rod, and ai' continuously moving flexible returning means, of a :arriage mounted to slide and rock upon the rod, a hanger depending from the carriage, a continuously oscillating lifting ii'igcn'means for successively deflecting the hanger laterally and releasing it to engage the lifting linger when the carriage reacl'ies one limit of its movement, meansv for positively fe ding the carriage to said limit of its nio'wnwnt, means upon the carriage and shii'table thereby when lifted, to couple the carriage to the returningmeans, and means for holding the carriage in rocked POS tlOD until returned to its initial point.

1]. The combination with a guide rod, of a carriage mormtwfi to slide and rock there on, separate means- For moving the carriage backwardand forward along the rod, means for swinging the carriage upwardly upon the rod upon reaching one limit of its movement, a reproducer movable with the carriage, and a stationary brush, the needle of the rep'rmluecr being movable under the brush during the movement'of the carriage '50 in the opposite direction.

'12. The combination with a stationa'r brush, of a carriage, a reproducer movab c with the carriage, means fol-actuating the carriage in one direction tomove the needle of the reproducer under the brush, means for automatically lifting the carriage and reproducer upon reaching one limit of movement of the carria e, and means for moving the carriage. an Treproducer back to their point of starting, said brush being adapted for engagement by the needle of the reproducer, during such returnmovement.

13. The combination with a stationary brush, and a reproducer, of a carriage therefor mounted for backward and forward movement, means for holding the needle of the reproducer under the brush during the,

-movement,of the-carriage in one direction,

and. for supporting the needle of the 're- 70 brush during the movement of the reproduce and carriage inthe opposite direction.

14. The combination with a stationary brush, of a reproducer mounted for move ment relatively thereto and including a diaphragm, a lover, a pin mounted for rotation therein, yielding means for holding the pin normally in a predetermined relation with the lever, a secondary lever fulcrumed upon the pin, a connection between the secondary lever and the diaphragm, and a needle car ried bythe secondary lever, said pin being revol'uble relatively. to the first named lever during the movement of the needle over the brush.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto a'flixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Hnnnnn'r D. LAWSON, M. E. MoCAn'rHY. 

